Study for the Head of The Melvin Memorial

Daniel Chester French

1907; cast before 1914 · Bronze · The American Wing

This head is based on the angel figure in French’s "Melvin Memorial," erected in 1908 in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts (a marble replica of the full figure is on view in the Charles Engelhard Court of the American Wing; 15.75). The practice of extracting parts from large monuments gained favor with sculptors attempting to create a market for small-scale bronzes around the turn of the century. French deliberately gave the masklike head an unfinished quality by leaving a seam line running vertically through the profile.

Artist

Daniel Chester French

Date

1907; cast before 1914

Medium

Bronze

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Purchase, Erving Wolf Foundation Gift, in memory of Diane R. Wolf, 1974